baby chicks skin is very red

[shadetreeh]

i have 7 four week old chicks and there skin is bright red with a little blood showing i don't see any mites or any thing and they huddle on top of each other and scratch alot please help

 

[d.k]

*what are you feeding them? Almost sounds like an allergic reaction-- to much niacin, maybe? What are you using for bedding?

 

[shadetreeh]

i am feeding them starter/grower food from the feed store they act funny i just raised over 30 chicks and no problems with them. they are in a rabbit hutch no bedding just like i did with all the others

 

[sammi]

I think I'd get a new bag of feed...maybe even from a different place.

maybe a bad batch of feed.
are you giving vitamins?
maybe a too strong dose?

are they pecking each other?
could there be other bugs in the hutch?
mites are hard to see in daytime..so could be mites/lice.

do they act sick? are they eating and drinking?

 

[airmom1c05]

If you can get hold of some food grade diatomaceous earth in case it's lice or mites, you could safely dust them. The itching part makes me think they may have parasites.

http://www.custommilling.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=27

This is where I got mine.

 

[d.k]

* How far feathered are they??

 

[dlhunicorn]

is the feed medicated? if not you may be dealing with cocci...
I agree on getting a new bag of feed ... at your petstore they will have a spray for cage birds against mites... use this inside your coop (make sure birds and feed and water are well away while you treat the coop)

 

[shadetreeh]

my chicks have 75% of there feathers and there are some little black nate flying around there cage it is just strange the way they lay on top of each other they eat and driink real good i am going to change pens today and hope that helps

 

[d.k]

* The little black gnats thing could be some variety of what we call "no-see-ums" in FL. These things are a real nuisance. They tend to come out at dusk AND THEY BITE! They would *definitely* make the chicks itchy, all that scratching would make their skin red. . . .and they could be huddling together to try to avoid them and to avoid being bitten!! IMAGINE being attacked by hundreds of tiny barely visible mosquitoes!!!

 

[dlhunicorn]

where are you located? I find it a bit young to have them outside particularly at night... your description of them piling up on one another sound to me as though they are cold.